It is becoming more and more the practice to provide the wheels carried by undercarriages of the main landing gear of an aircraft with drive members suitable for enabling the aircraft to move under its own power, but without requiring drive from its engines. Such wheels are generally fitted with brakes that comprise (hydraulic or electromechanical) braking actuators carried by an actuator-carrier or ring, and a torsion tube around which a stack of disks is arranged.
The brakes are usually mounted around the axle carrying the wheel and they are associated with the undercarriage in several ways. They are simple to mount rotatably on the undercarriage, and to prevent from rotating on the axle either by a brake bar (as in the Airbus A340), or by a dog secured to the undercarriage (as in the Boeing B737). The brake may also be fastened to a torque plate, i.e. to a plate made integrally with the axle (as in the Airbus A320), and as shown in FIG. 6, which is described in greater detail below.
Document FR 2 954 752 proposes fastening such a drive member directly on the brake ring. However that arrangement makes it necessary to modify existing brakes or to design new brakes in order to enable the drive member to be incorporated therein.
A need has been identified for providing a drive member that is independent of the brake, thereby facilitating maintenance of both of those two elements, and also making it possible for the drive member to be made available as an option.